I live in a land called Mid-America. Here, we want less government involvement in our lives. And we're mostly non-elite, working middle-class. "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." Thomas Jefferson

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Texas textbooks: Much ado about nothing

The controversy surrounding the new proposed standards of the Texas State Board of Education has become, once again, a fight for the truth. Those pundits who have made nonfactual claims about this proposed curriculum standard obviously haven't read the document, in any of its various renditions.

This lie was also posted on a "news" item on the HuffPost in March, in which "ultraconservatives" were blamed for the changes. thinkprogress.com was cited as the source. How quickly lies spread in the age of the Internet. Doesn't anyone read documents and laws now? I guess if AG Eric Holder can condemn a law before he's actually read it, then why not the little people too. What's harmful is that thousands of readers actually believed the post, based on their comments, which are astounding on their own.

In reality, Thomas Jefferson is mentioned more predominately in the new standards. In addition, I noticed that the word "identify" was in many cases replaced with "evaluate" at the High School level. Rather than having students regurgitate facts, they will be required to understand events.

And of course, those brilliant legislators in Sacramento are at it again. Remember, these are the same idiots folks who have bankrupted California. According to Allvoices.com:

The State of California bill SB 1451 introduced by Senator Leland YeeLeland Yee, D-San Francisco states that the California Board of Education would be required to conduct school textbook reviews for content that reflects Texas curriculum changes as “a sharp departure from widely accepted historical teachings” and “a threat to the apolitical nature of public school governance and academic content standards in California.”

What rubbish, but what do you expect from the wingnuts on the left? I'll bet they have not read the proposed standards either. Oh, and by the way, which state in the Union is best for business (which means jobs) and which is the worse? See here, according to Chief Executive Magazine. According to this magazine, 70 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. since 2008 have been in -- wait for it -- Texas. But I digress once again. Back to the textbook crisis.

Robert C. Koons, University of Texas professor, makes the case for the new standards in a post from the Austin statesmen.com:

Inclusion of neglected founders, including John Jay, Charles Carroll, John Peter Muhlenberg, John Witherspoon and John Trumbull, representing the religious diversity of early America.

Inclusion of the fine arts and culture and the contributions of scientists and inventors.

Emphasis on our common-law tradition, epitomized by the Commentaries of William Blackstone, the most commonly used textbook in our country for more than a century (used by everyone from Hamilton to Lincoln).

The opposition is relying on the Big Lie. This cynical effort will fail to influence the vast majority of Texans for one simple reason: the Internet. Texans can go to the Texas Education Agency website and read the new standards for themselves.